Skip to content
Theory of Colours - The MIT Press (Paperback)
  • Theory of Colours - The MIT Press (Paperback)
zoom

Theory of Colours - The MIT Press (Paperback)

(author), (translator), (author of introduction)
£36.00
Paperback 468 Pages
Published: 15/03/1970
Free UK delivery on orders over £25
  • In stock

Usually dispatched within 1-2 days

Free UK delivery on orders over £25
  • This item has been added to your basket

By closely following Goethe's explanations of the color phenomena, the reader may become so divorced from the wavelength theory—Goethe never even mentions it—that he may begin to think about color theory relatively unhampered by prejudice, ancient or modern.

By the time Goethe's Theory of Colours appeared in 1810, the wavelength theory of light and color had been firmly established. To Goethe, the theory was the result of mistaking an incidental result for an elemental principle. Far from pretending to a knowledge of physics, he insisted that such knowledge was an actual hindrance to understanding. He based his conclusions exclusively upon exhaustive personal observation of the phenomena of color.

Of his own theory, Goethe was supremely confident: “From the philosopher, we believe we merit thanks for having traced the phenomena of colours to their first sources, to the circumstances under which they appear and are, and beyond which no further explanation respecting them is possible.”

Goethe's scientific conclusions have, of course, long since been thoroughly demolished, but the intelligent reader of today may enjoy this work on quite different grounds: for the beauty and sweep of his conjectures regarding the connection between color and philosophical ideas; for an insight into early nineteenth-century beliefs and modes of thought; and for the flavor of life in Europe just after the American and French Revolutions.

The book does not have to be studied to be appreciated. Goethe's subjective theory of colors permits him to speak most persuasively of color harmony and aesthetics. In some readers these notions will evoke a positive response on their merits. Others may regard them as pure fantasy, but savor the grace and style of their exposition.
The work may also be read as an accurate guide to the study of color phenomena. Goethe's conclusions have been repudiated, but no one quarrels with his reporting of the facts to be observed. With simple objects—vessels, prisms, lenses, and the like—the reader will be led through a demonstration course not only in subjectively produced colors, but also in the observable physical phenomena of color. By closely following Goethe's explanations of the color phenomena, the reader may become so divorced from the wavelength theory—Goethe never even mentions it—that he may begin to think about color theory relatively unhampered by prejudice, ancient or modern.

Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
ISBN: 9780262570213
Number of pages: 468
Weight: 544 g
Dimensions: 203 x 133 x 21 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

"Can you lend me The Theory of Colours for a few weeks? It is an important work. His latest things are insipid." Ludwig van Beethoven , Conversation-book, 1820

You may also be interested in...

The Design of Everyday Things
Added to basket
Overgrown
Added to basket
Paperback
£41.00
Art for Coexistence
Added to basket
Thermal Delight in Architecture
Added to basket
Architecture and Disjunction
Added to basket
Shanzhai Volume 8
Added to basket
On Bramante
Added to basket
Banksy: Completed
Added to basket
101 Things to Learn in Art School
Added to basket
The Lies of the Artists
Added to basket
Selected Works 2010-2024
Added to basket
Design Justice
Added to basket
Experiencing Architecture
Added to basket
Monumental Graffiti
Added to basket
The Architecture of the City
Added to basket

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.